Had one last post-yoga dinner Monday night with E - not the E of chiptune fame - the last of my gay interns. Aw! I'm struck by how many gay teens, like E when she was that age, move out of their parents' houses and find some means of supporting themselves. LGBT kids' independent & resourceful streak is a fine argument against DADT.
One thing that surprised me about E was that her leaving her parents wasn't explicitly about her queerness, necessarily, and I know she isn't alone in that. I get the feeling, though, that the key word here is "explicitly". She never had the coming out talk; she just started talking and acting as if she were out. E seems to be unusual among TBLG* people in having good a relationship with her whole immediate family, all the more unusual because her family hasn't had decades to come to grips with her. I hope she represents the future.
Being around gay people is so much more... relaxing. And no, I wasn't lusting after her for a change. Not that she isn't cute.
*Stolen from Jenny Boylan.
One thing that surprised me about E was that her leaving her parents wasn't explicitly about her queerness, necessarily, and I know she isn't alone in that. I get the feeling, though, that the key word here is "explicitly". She never had the coming out talk; she just started talking and acting as if she were out. E seems to be unusual among TBLG* people in having good a relationship with her whole immediate family, all the more unusual because her family hasn't had decades to come to grips with her. I hope she represents the future.
Being around gay people is so much more... relaxing. And no, I wasn't lusting after her for a change. Not that she isn't cute.
*Stolen from Jenny Boylan.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-24 08:21 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-08-24 11:33 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-08-24 09:13 pm (UTC)From:Maybe you can clear up the situation in two years, but not interns for you next year.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-25 03:27 am (UTC)From:I looked kinda puzzled. Like why should anyone who has clearly been in love with both girls and boys since they could walk ever have to have that talk? It'd be like telling them I have blue eyes.
Maybe she knows her parents already know.
And yes, it does make the future look awesome.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-25 05:09 am (UTC)From:One of my favorite letters to Dan Savage EVAR was from a teen boy, who had been discovered by his parents kissing his boyfriend, and that was how they learned he was gay. And he had written to say "I don't have a problem, I just wanted to say thank you, to you and all those who came before me, who gave my parents enough exposure to gays that they didn't freak out. They're cool with it, and me."
Made me tear up, it did. Here's to hoping there are many, many more kids out there who end up with much the same story.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-25 05:46 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-08-25 05:55 pm (UTC)From:It's especially wonderful when the family members you don't expect to be way cool are. Your mother is firmly Mormon; mine comes from a small town in the Blue Ridge mountains and can remember World War 2.
I wish I knew why the ones who aren't cool aren't. To quote my son out of context, how do we make it stop?
no subject
Date: 2011-08-26 05:54 pm (UTC)From:Mom
no subject
Date: 2011-08-26 05:57 pm (UTC)From:You have to click on the link that says, "Six and a half hours of Anna Carver's hard work later..." That's called a cut tag. It's specific to LiveJournal, and it's good manners to use one for a large photo like the one I posted.